This book tells the story of the emergence of the concept of crimes against humanity. It examines its origins, the ethical assumptions underpinning it, its legal and philosophical boundaries, and some of the controversies connected with it. A brief historical introduction is followed by an exploration of the various meanings of the term ‘crimes against humanity’ that have been suggested; a definition is proposed linking it to the idea of basic human rights. The book looks at some problems with the boundaries of the concept, the threshold for its proper application and the related issue of humanitarian intervention. It concludes with a discussion of the prospects for the further development of crimes-against-humanity law. The work serves as a clear and compact introduction for students of politics, philosophy and law, as well as for the general reading public.

Crimes Against Humanity: Birth of a concept

GERAS, NORMAN

Foreign & International Law

Manchester University Press

This book tells the story of the emergence of the concept of crimes against humanity. It examines its origins, the ethical assumptions underpinning it, its legal and philosophical boundaries, and some of the controversies connected with it. A brief historical introduction is followed by an exploration of the various meanings of the term 'crimes against humanity' that have been suggested; a definition is proposed linking it to the idea of basic human rights. The book looks at some problems with the boundaries of the concept, the threshold for its proper application and the related issue of humanitarian intervention. It concludes with a discussion of the prospects for the further development of crimes-against-humanity law. The work serves as a clear and compact introduction for students of politics, philosophy and law, as well as for the general reading public.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

“Marx did not reject the idea of a human nature. He was right not to do so.” That is the conclusion of this passionate and polemical new work by Norman Geras. In it, he places the sixth of Marx’s Theses on Feuerbach under rigorous scrutiny. He argues that this ambiguous statement—widely cited as evidence that Marx broke with all conceptions of human nature in 1845—must be read in the context of Marx’s work as a whole. His later writings are informed by an idea of a specifically human nature that fulfills both explanatory and normative functions. The belief that Marx’s historical materialism entailed a denial of the conception of human nature is, Geras writes, “an old fixation, which the Althusserian influence in this matter has fed upon … Because this fixation still exists and is misguided, it is still necessary to challenge it.” One hundred years after Marx’s death, this timely essay—combining the strengths of analytical philosophy and classical Marxism—rediscovers a central part of his heritage.

Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend (Radical Thinkers)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Verso Books

Literature of Revolution: Essays on Marxism

Essential essays on key Marxist writers from a leading political thinker
Literature of Revolution explores the pivotal texts and topics in the Marxist tradition, drawing on the works of Marx, Trotsky, Luxemburg, Lenin, and Althusser. In close dialogue with common themes and arguments in revolutionary Marxist thought, Geras brings some of his persistent preoccupations to the fore: the relationship between Marxism and justice; the debates on political organization; and the role of revolutionary mass action and party pluralism; as well as an enthralling exploration into the literary power of Trotsky’s writing.

Verso-liter, Revolutn

RH Canada UK Dist

Discourses of Extremity: Radical Ethics and Post-Marxist Extravagances

Business & Money

Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind: The Ungroundable Liberalism of Richard Rorty

In this book, Norman Geras engages with the work of Richard Rorty to explore the paradoxes of a liberalism which rejects and determinate view of human nature. He begins by examining Rorty’s thesis concerning rescuer behavior during the Holocaust. Measuring it against existing research on the subject and the testimony of rescuers themselves, Geras questions Rorty’s use of their moral example as a challenge to universalist assumptions. He then considers some of the problems in Rorty’s anti-essentialism: his shifting usages of ‘human nature’; the paradoxical pleas for extensive forms of solidarity on the basis of parochial communitarian premises; the relationship of pragmatist notions of truth to issues of justice; and the project of democratic, would-be ‘humanist’ utopia grounded only on contingencies. Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind is an imagined dialogue with Rorty—influential, eloquent and unorthodox champion of a humane radical liberalism.

Verso

What are the sources of solidarity? Do universalist motives have an important place among them? And how are they related to arguments about human nature and about truth?In this new book, Norman Geras engages with the work of Richard Rorty to explore the paradoxes of a liberalism which rejects any determinate view of human nature. He begins by examining Rorty’s thesis concerning rescuer behavior during the Holocaust. Measuring it against existing research on the subject and the testimony of rescuers themselves, Geras questions Rorty’s use of their moral example as a challenge to universalist assumptions. He then considers some of the problems in Rorty’s anti-essentialism: his shifting usages of “human nature”; the paradoxical plea for extensive forms of solidarity on the basis of parochial communitarian premises; the relationship of pragmatist notions of truth to issues of justice; and the project of a democratic, would-be “humanist” utopia grounded only on contingencies.Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind is an imagined dialogue with Rorty—influential, eloquent and unorthodox champion of a human radical liberalism.

No great socialist thinker has been so often misrepresented as the Polish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg. In this scrupulous study, tightly argued, Geras systematically considers and refutes the major myths which have developed about her work. He shows how her views on socialist strategy in Russia were closer to those of Lenin than any other leader, and clarifies her famous theory of the mass strike. Her critique of the Bolsheviks after the October Revolution is distinguished from social-democratic or anarchist attacks, to which it has often been assimilated. Widely praised on its first publication, The Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg is an important contribution to our understanding of an earlier generation of Marxism in Poland and Russia.

The Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg

Reference

Essential essays on key Marxist writers from a leading political thinkerLiterature of Revolution explores the pivotal texts and topics in the Marxist tradition, drawing on the works of Marx, Trotsky, Luxemburg, Lenin, and Althusser. In close dialogue with common themes and arguments in revolutionary Marxist thought, Geras brings some of his persistent preoccupations to the fore: the relationship between Marxism and justice; the debates on political organization; and the role of revolutionary mass action and party pluralism; as well as an enthralling exploration into the literary power of Trotsky’s writing.

VERSO-LITER. REVOLUTN

Politics & Government

Discourses of Extremity: Radical Ethics and Post-Marxist Extravangences

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by GERAS, NORMAN. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by GERAS, NORMAN

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by GERAS, NORMAN. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Crimes Against Humanity: Birth of a concept

Crimes Against Humanity: Birth of a concept

Marx and Human Nature: Refutation of a Legend (Radical Thinkers)

Verso-liter, Revolutn

Discourses of Extremity: Radical Ethics and Post-Marxist Extravagances

Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind: The Ungroundable Liberalism of Richard Rorty

Solidarity in the Conversation of Humankind: The Ungroundable Liberalism of Richard Rorty

The Legacy of Rosa Luxemburg

VERSO-LITER. REVOLUTN

Discourses of Extremity: Radical Ethics and Post-Marxist Extravangences